The Love of a Dragon
by OffMyLeash
Summary: Though dragons and Dragon Slayers look forward to finding their mate, mating certainly isn't easy. When Lucy is claimed by an unexpected Dragon Slayer it is only the beginning of complications. ***Image not mine***
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: Hey there folks, glad you decided to give this story a shot. I'll admit, this FT story is certainly different than the others I've done, but I hope you guys show this thing some love regardless.**

**See you guys again at the bottom.**

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Even though it was early, the morning in Magnolia was already beautiful with cloud filled blue skies and golden rays of sunlight reigning down; the forest surrounding the town brimming with healthy green vegetation. A prelude to the days ahead that would hopefully be filled with such pleasant weather as on this day, the first day of summer.

For many, summer meant the beginning of summer vacation. A well earned break away from the walls of the classroom. A recovery period from the long week spent getting little to no sleep while students spent the time rushing to complete end of the year projects, and studying at the last minute for exams they had forgotten about. The reward for it all being a few weeks of friends, family, and fun...until final grades were posted.

But until then, people were packing for trips to go on, and enjoy the free time away from work and responsibilities.

To others however, summer meant something altogether different. Something far more precious. A time of year that was looked forward to years before it was time to be experienced. To those who practiced the lost art of Dragon Slayer magic, today marked the beginning of mating season.

Wendy moved about excitedly within her room in Fairy Hills. She couldn't help herself really, today was the start of mating season, she knew the moment she awoke. However, this year's mating season was different from the ones of the past. Today also represented for her the first mating season she would be experiencing for herself, marking her transition into maturity...at least, in dragon years anyway.

The young dragon slayer hopped out of bed and began her task of getting ready so that she could meet her nakama at the train station.

She had always looked forward to the day she got to be old enough to participate in the season. The stories Grandeeney told her, of dragons finding their mate, or mates, the other part of their soul had always entranced the blue haired girl. The thought of actually finding her mate and spending the rest of her life with them causing a purr of contentment to work it's way past her lips.

Of course, the young sky dragon didn't expect to come across her mate during her first ever mating season. It was highly unlikely, and Wendy was okay with that. Just to be at this point in her life was enough for her and it filled her stomach with the nervous and thrilled fluttering of butterflies in her stomach.

"I wish Grandeeney could be here for this," she said to herself as she finished tying up her last pigtail. The fair skinned teen feeling a moment of sadness strike her as she thought of her foster mother.

Though she never outright said, it hurt Wendy that her foster mother would not get to witness certain events in her life. Grandeeney never got the chance to see her join Fairy Tail and make all sorts of new friends. The dragon couldn't be here to witness Wendy come into maturity with her first active mating season; and, the thing that saddened Wendy most of all, Grandeeney would never get a chance to see her daughter find her mate.

She would never see the mating between her child and their destined one, never get a chance to make the young slayer's mate uncomfortable by asking probing questions and other things of that nature.

The sky dragon bringing her hand up to her chest, placing it over her heart. "But I know you'd be happy for me," she whispered her belief out loud. "You prepared me for when this day would come." A look of determination coming across her face as she looked in the mirror.

Silently promising to uphold the dragon mating traditions and listen to her instincts.

"Wendy?" Carla called flying into view and earning the young human's attention. "Are you ready?" To which Wendy nodded as she went and grabbed her suitcase by the door.

The sky dragon learning early on that when Team Natsu was involved, it was best to be prepared for anything, as even the most simple of missions could quickly turn complicated.

"Hai! Let's go."

Natsu was grinning from ear to ear as he marched along toward the train station, Happy flying a little ways in front of him. The pink haired slayer couldn't help pumping his fist into the air. First day of mating season and already he was feeling fired up.

He never been as excited for this time of year as he was now. This year was the year. This year, he felt he would finally take a mate, and he already had his sights set on someone.

Four years of going through mating season, and this would be the first time he'd actively seek out his mate, rather than isolating himself for the summer months, because there was never anyone who caught his interest.

In truth, he'd had his eyes on her for some time now. Perhaps not from the beginning, but somewhere along the lines he'd developed romantic feelings toward her. The young slayer found himself drawn towards her, always having the desire to be around the woman he knew was created only for him-the woman who carried the other half of his soul.

She was everything the fire mage both wanted, and didn't know he needed, in a mate. She was kind, compassionate, forgiving, brave, and didn't mind yelling at him when he deserved it (which was quite often). He had been looking forward to this season all year, eager to finally claim her for himself.

The salmon haired mage wish he would have claimed her sooner, but, he was more dragon than human, all Dragon Slayers were.

Unlike humans, dragons could not take a mate outside of mating season. It just didn't work that way for them, nor was it a decision that could be forced. Sure, they could form relationships, date if they wished, and even have sex, but they wouldn't have been able to claim their partner, or partners, and mate with them. No, proper mating was only possible during the summer, when the dragon side of themselves was actively seeking out their mate.

Natsu had never believed in seeking out a partner, meaningful or otherwise, outside of the summer because he felt it would only cause harm. If it turned out the person he had formed a relationship with wasn't his mate, things would get ugly really quickly. His father Igneel had told him how he'd seen a thing like that happen a few times...it wasn't pretty was all that the dragon would ever tell him.

"Good thing that won't be happening to me!" Natsu remarked as his smile only widened, before he hit his fists together. "I'm all fired up to take my mate!" Flames forming around his fists and up to his forearms before he began running toward his destination.

Gajeel allowed the water to wash over him, removing the soap from his body and awakening his muscles. He could feel the restlessness within him, knowing already what it meant: his dragon had a mate in mind. That was the only thing it could be, as he had never felt such a stirring in the eight years since he'd reached maturity and begun searching for a mate this time of year, whether a conscious decision on his part or not.

Damn dragon urges and their instincts.

He could just picture Metalicana poking fun of him and teasing him for having such "adult" thoughts. _Damn that smart mouthed old man,_ the iron dragon slayer thought to himself. He was glad that the dragon wasn't around for any of his previous mating seasons, else Gajeel would have never lived through them, either dying from embarrassment or he'd have died trying to kill the dragon himself.

Still, he wasn't about to give into his yearning like this was his first heat. Metalicana ever found out about that, he'd never be allowed to live it down. No, he would play it cool, there was no reason rush.

The spiky haired ebony man turning off the water before stepping out of the shower. Grabbing one of the towels and wrapping it around his waist, while taking the other and beginning to dry his hair off. Besides, he and his dragon had their eyes the same person, and for that the toffee skinned slayer was grateful.

It would have sucked had he and his dragon wished to claim other people.

Thankfully, Metalicana's rusty ass had taught him the signs to look for in order to know if both he and his dragon wanted to claim the same person. Of course, the dragon had also added that it was a rather pointless lesson, as no one would ever be desperate enough to want Gajeel as a mate.

"Ass," the former Phantom Lord wizard commented as he went about finishing getting himself ready.

Another mating season. This made what, ten years for him? Laxus glanced out the window before turning his attention to his bedmate and most recent conquest.

Honestly, he felt rather neutral about the whole mating thing really. Perhaps when he was younger he found himself excited at the prospect, but now he only saw the start of summer as just another day like any other.

Now, he wasn't opposed to meeting his mate one day. That was an instinctual desire and drive for all dragons and dragon slayers alike, heightened all the more during the summer; but, at the same time, if he didn't come across them this year, he'd be no worse off than he was before.

The fact that at anytime during the season he could come across his mate was a large reason why the Lightning Dragon Slayer never really pursued any type of deep, emotional relationship. He preferred no strings attached, simple one-night stands or friends with benefits. Either way, the spiky haired blonde made it clear that he did not want anything more than a good time.

His thoughts shifting away from mating as his bedmate shifted closer to him, the young redhead snuggling into his stomach. "Since you're awake," she began her voice freshly riddled with sleep, as she looked up at him through her hair. "Don't suppose you're up for a repeat of last night?"

The scarred man smirked down at her as he allowed his hand to remove the bedsheet that was covering her form. "We Dragon Slayers possess large amounts of stamina," he told her, bringing his hand up to slide across her stomach, earning a light moan from her. "But, I'm not really one to repeat a performance so..." Trailing as he allowed a small amount of electricity to ghost across her skin, causing the redhead to gasp as her back arched.

Laxus' smirk only grew as his eyes shined. "What do you say we put on a whole new show?" he asked her as he brought his mouth down to claim hers before she could even formulate a response.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Erza questioned looking at their team, as they all stood gathered in the train station among the hustle and bustle of the townsfolk. It was actually more crowded than normal, further proof that many people were eager to kick off the summer with travel.

Earning nods from everyone except Gray and Natsu, who were both too busy slinging insults at one another to pay her any attention. The re-quip mage quickly took care of that, hitting both boys in the back of the head, easily sending them to the ground. Her trademarked glare and they had sprung to their feet in a flash, arms around each other and going on and on about how they weren't about to fight, and just how good buddies they were.

Amused laughter erupted from the other members of Team Natsu as they all gathered their things before boarding the train.

As per Team Natsu's usual luck, their simple mission turned out to be the exact opposite. Granted, their job hadn't taken a full turn in the opposite direction, and they needed to stop a plot that would endanger the world, but the group did find themselves in a forest fighting off an entire dark guild. The guild wasn't as large as Fairy Tail, and, to the dark guild's disappointment, no one present had ever heard of them.

"Oi, Salamander, I've taken down more of these losers than you," Gajeel commented as he slammed one of his opponents into a tree with an iron fist, successfully rendering the guy unconscious. "Are these weaklings too much for you to handle?" the Iron Dragon Slayer taunted with a smirk on his face.

Natsu responded by hitting a large group of dark guild members with his flame dragon roar, succeeding in setting their clothes and hair on fire. He was pretty sure he'd burned a few of them too, nothing too bad though (he didn't want to kill them). "Please, if anyone is having a hard time, it's the Ice Princess over there," the Fire Dragon Slayer quipped, pointing over towards Gray who was unsurprisingly fighting in his underwear.

That remark earning Gray's full attention as he turned to face his opposite. "What did you say Flame for Brains?!" the ice mage demanded to know, ducking an attack from behind easily, and catching his attacker with a punch to the face that sent them flying. "I've taken out way more of these chumps than both of you combined!

Some Dragon Slayers!" He taunted the pair, earning glares from each of the men.

No more words were said, but it was easy to tell from how much faster they started to move that the guys were competing with one another.

Lucy released a sigh. "Those three..." Giving a shake of her head, as she disarmed an attacker with her whip before throwing the weapon right back at him, sending him to the ground. "At least we aren't in the city, so our jewels won't be cut into now that their cutting lose even more than before."

Taking a moment to glance around in the chaos. Besides the boys, Erza and Juvia were handling themselves quite well, which was to be expected. And, though they weren't causing nearly the same amount of destruction as the boys, their attacks were no less debilitating, leaving nothing but unconscious bodies littered around them.

With her attention elsewhere, Lucy didn't notice an attacker coming in from her right, nor did a majority of her team...except one person. Wendy had just finished blasting away a decent sized group when she looked over and noticed someone sneaking up on the Celestial mage.

"Lucy!" The blue haired teen shouted her cry earned the attention of their teammates as they all turned towards one direction, each seeing what Wendy saw. Natsu, though he was further away than Gajeel and Gray took off in a sprint towards Lucy, pushing himself to each her in time. Yet, he realized as Lucy's attacker raised his weapon, even if he shot fire blasts, they wouldn't reach her in time.

The heiress' body locked up as she stood frozen in surprise, unable to defend herself. She tensed and closed her eyes preparing for the inevitable blow to come. When it did, it was not what she expected.

Opening honey brown eyes, looking down she saw only a sea of blue. Wendy had...saved her? The sky dragon latched around her waist, hitting Lucy with enough momentum to send them both flying backwards. Their enemy's swing coming down a few milliseconds later, missing both girls.

Lucy wanted to thank Wendy for saving her, but before she could find her voice, she felt the sensation of falling, barely registering the concerned cry of, "Wendy!", from Carla. Then, the fair skinned woman's entire body began to hurt as her body slammed against the ground as the word began to spin out of control. Up, down, up, down, down, up, down, up...

It was enough to make the Celestial Spirit mage dizzy, as her brain rattled around in her head, though she did somehow manage to wrap her arms around the young dragon slayer to try and protect her savior. After what felt like forever, they slammed into the ground one final time, before they stopped moving, Lucy taking the brunt of the fall. The cries of their nakama seeming utterly far away as both girls tried to regain their senses.

"Wendy? Wendy are you okay?" Lucy inquires, having gotten herself together first, as she looks up at the younger woman in concern. The cobalt haired teen shakes her head, more so to clear it than an actual no. Then she opens her mouth to answer and whatever she is about to say dies on her tongue as her nose catches the most alluring scent she's ever smelled.

Wendy closes her mouth and swallows thickly as her whole body freezes. She does not move. Her nose twitches as she scents the air. Once. Twice. Three times. Each time her sniffing growing more and more pronounced until it is noticeable, but the sky dragon is too lost in the aroma to care.

The scent was heavenly, causing the young dragon slayer to release a low rumble from her throat, as a shiver tore its way through her body.

And then Wendy opened her eyes and looked down...and everything except the person beneath her existed. Everything that had previously mattered-the job, fighting off the dark guild-was no longer important. All that she saw and all that she cared about in that moment, was Lucy.

It felt like something had just clicked inside of Wendy, as if a piece that she hadn't even known was missing had suddenly been put in its place. For the first time in her life, the holes that had been left by Grandeeney and Jellal and Cait Shelter had been filled-the throbbing pain echoing around their disappearance from her life soothed. All thanks to honey brown eyes staring up at her.

As she lowered her head down, without thought, to sniff at Lucy's neck two things occurred. First, inhaling that much of the blonde's scent-the smell of her skin covered in sweat no less-clicked off the human side of Wendy's brain, leaving only her more primal dragon side active and in control. Second, because of this, she was hit suddenly with the overwhelming urge to mark her territory, with both tooth and claw, to mark Lucy with her scent, so all would know that this female now belonged to her, as one word echoed through her mind.

**_Mine..._**

So fierce and possessive the word was, yet Wendy couldn't agree more with the statement, as low rumbles echoed from her chest. This beautiful creature was now hers, always and forever, just as she was theirs.

"W-Wendy?" Lucy called unaware what was taking place within the sky dragon's mind, but wondering why the shorter girl currently had her nose buried within her neck, sniffing at her skin. She also vaguely wondered why there was a sudden throbbing in her chest, like something had just been shot into her. But, just as quickly as she felt the sensation it was gone, replaced by a feeling of a firm pressure resting on her chest.

A hum coming from Wendy as she enjoyed the way her name sounded coming from the older girl's lips. Bringing one of her hands up to bury in Lucy's hair as her lips brushed against the blonde's neck. An excited growl coming from her at the thought of hearing her name fall past Lucy's lips repeatedly as they mated.

Her pupils becoming sliced as her eyes began to slowly turn pink from the thought, as her instincts began to further take over. Before the young dragon slayer could succumb to the urge, the sound of voices drawing closer pulled Wendy from her thoughts. She had just pulled her face from the heiress' neck when Gray appeared from the foliage, followed by Erza, Juvia, and the three Exceeds flying above them.

"Wendy. Lucy, there you two are," Gray sighed in relief as he laid eyes on the two girls. He had begun to fear the worse when neither girl responded to their cries after they had tumbled off the hill. "You two alright? We were-" he tried to explain as he moved closer toward them.

In an instant, Wendy went from laying atop the Celestial mage to crouched protectively above her, snarling viciously at Gray, while eyeing Erza and Juvia who were off to the side of the ice mage, baring her teeth showing off her teeth, with canines appearing longer and sharper than before.

Her reaction not only catching the trio by surprise, but also catching them off guard.

Rustling to her left caught Wendy's attention, and she glanced over to see Gajeel and Natsu arrive. The second the two elder Dragon Slayers stepped into the area they knew. The scent that wafted off of Wendy and coated Lucy like an armor assaulted both youth's noses. She snarled at them and instinctively, they froze.

Carla looked concerned. "I don't understand," she voiced flying as close as she could before her action earned Wendy's attention. Another vicious snarl from the youngest member and she stopped. "What's wrong with her?" Posing the question to anyone who knew the answer.

None of the "normal" members of the team knew. But, Natsu and Gajeel did, it was enough to make Natsu dropped to his knees in disbelief, green eyes wide in shock. The reason for Wendy's behavior was simple: she had claimed Lucy...Lucy was Wendy's mate.

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**A/n2: Well...I'm sure by now you guys realize how unexpected this pairing is, no? Now don't get nervous folks, I promise this story isn't going to get perverted (I'd write a smut series for this if that were the case ;) ) so don't go fleeing for the hills on me just yet okay? Also, this thing has no beta so...if this intrigues you enough to wanna give it a shot, lemme know in a PM.**

**Drop me a couple review lines and I'll see you peeps later.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Oh snap another chapter so soon! I'm telling you guys right now, under no circumstances are you to get used to fast uploads, hoe don't do it lol. Besides that I am glad to see this thing is getting a positive response and thank you to everyone who faved and followed this thing, and BIG thank yous to those of you who left reviews telling me your thoughts on the first chapter.**

**Now read on to see what this chapter has in store and don't forget to click in that box at the bottom to leave me a review and tell me what you think (heh, I'm sounding like a person on YouTube..."if you liked this video click on the subscribe button below" yadda yadda yadda).**

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Lucy felt completely confused as she looked between the rest of their team and Wendy. She was at a loss for the younger girl's behavior, not understanding why the cobalt haired slayer crouched over her like a rabid dog protecting a piece of meat; then, growling and snarling at their friends as if she didn't even recognize them.

"W-Wendy?" Erza said the name in surprise, the crimson haired woman the first to recover from the initial shock of Wendy's reaction to them. Perhaps the small mage had gone into a defensive mode triggered by she and Lucy's tumble off the hill? It would make sense. "Wendy, it's okay, it's us..." the S-class mage said slowly, hoping to calm the youth down as she slowly approached as one would a wild animal.

An action that proved to be a mistake.

Wendy lowered herself even further atop Lucy as her growling only grew in frequency and intensity. "Stay away Erza!" she warned the knight, making the young woman stop in her tracks immediately, as the sky dragon shot all of the people present a warning glare.

Carla's eyebrows came together in confusion as she hovered in the air, her concern for her young charge only intensifying. "Wendy, what's-" the female Exceed began to inquire as she drew closer.

"I said stay away!" Wendy snapped as her words were strong enough, painful enough, to cause the cat to freeze. Wendy had never shouted at her before and it was clear to tell that Wendy's rejection of her closeness hurt the Exceed.

Eventually, Gajeel managed to get over his shock at the current situation and regain his bearings. He realized what was happening quicker than the rest of their teammates. He needed to act quickly before Wendy did something that he knew she would regret later once her instincts and desire to protect her mate wore off.

"Everybody, back off now!" the Iron Dragon Slayer ordered, earning attention, making no moves to get any closer to the two teens on the ground.

Gray gave him a look normally reserved for Natsu. "Are you nuts?" the ice mage protested. "Something is clearly wrong with Wendy." Pointing at the girl in question as if anyone could have missed the state the youngest among them was in currently.

"Nothing is wrong with her. She's reacting that way because she sees you all to be a threat to her mate," Gajeel explained to the group. "She'll calm down a bit once you all give her some space, though she won't be fully at ease, she won't be as close to attacking you all as she is now.

So, I'll say it again..._ ._" The tallest among them repeated emphasizing the last two words. "Slowly," he added least they move too quickly and it set the sky dragon off.

Even though it was clear that the others didn't fully understand what was happening they did follow Gajeel's order and slowly backed away from the growling girl and downed Celestial mage. Hearing as Wendy's warning noises reduced in frequency, until she stopped making them altogether. She still eyed all of them warily though and kept herself positioned between them and Lucy.

With that done, the rest of Team Natsu turned their attention toward the former Phantom Lord mage.

"Okay, you obviously seem to know what's going on here," Gray brought up, looking toward Gajeel and crossing his arms. "So spill."

Juvia nodded in agreement with Gray's bluntness as she glanced over at Wendy. "Juvia admits, she too would also like to know what is going on that would make Wendy behave in such a way," the water mage admitted before returning her attention to the scarred dragon slayer.

The studded man tossed his hair over his shoulder in a nonchalant manner, before answering, "Mating season," as if there was all there was to it.

"Mating...season..." Erza drew out the words as if they were unfamiliar to her. Given the context and circumstance he was using them, that was actually correct.

The eldest among them never got a chance to elaborate further before Natsu joined the discussion. "No! There's no way Lucy can be Wendy's mate!" The fire mage denied as he sprang to his feet, his words earning a hiss from Wendy on the opposite side of the clearing.

A look of intensity on his face as his hands tucked into fists, his body trembling with anger, as his lips curled back into a snarl and he glared at the sight of the two girls, the sky dragon slayer more specifically.

He knew what a claim meant for a dragon. It wasn't just a random thing that happened contrary to what it seemed. It meant that a dragon had found the other half of their soul! The person that was always destined to be with them! But, that didn't make sense. Lucy was supposed to be the other half to his soul, not Wendy's. Clearly her dragon had made a mistake.

"Lucy can't be Wendy's," he protested fiercely, feeling his muscles tense as a different kind of fire raged inside him. "I don't accept it! Not when she's supposed to be mine!" Ending his declaration with a vicious snarl as he glared at the smaller dragon slayer.

Wendy was quick to respond to Natsu's snarl with one of her own, actually jumping to her feet, standing in front of the blonde. The tension between the two Dragon Slayers could easily be felt as it bared down heavy enough to suffocate them all. The two teammates not looking at one another like friends, or even rivals, but as genuine enemies.

Gajeel snapped his head in Natsu's direction, disbelief causing his red eyes to go wide. He couldn't possibly be doing this could he? Not when he knew how claiming worked. "Salamander, just what do you think you're doing?" He demanded to know marching over to the green eyed slayer and yanking forcefully on the light skinned teen's arm. But, Natsu easily snatched away from him, his emerald eyes never leaving Wendy. No, he didn't accept this at all!

Though no more words were spoken between them, how Natsu stood and the emotions radiating off him, Gajeel knew what was about to happen soon if he didn't stop it.

"Erza, Gray, Juvia," Gajeel called placing himself between Natsu and Wendy. His arm formed into an iron rod as he kept his eyes focused forward trained for even the slightest movement from the fire dragon. "I need you all to take Natsu away from here. Now."

Gajeel's tone was completely serious as he spoke, and the fact that he didn't refer to the fire mage by his moniker just solidified how serious things were at the moment. Red eyes narrowing as the youth in question took a slight step forward. The expression Natsu wore on his face was vicious as the pupils of his eyes had become spliced, signaling his dragon side was well on it's way to coming out and being in control.

"I don't care if you've got to knock him out to do it, but he can't stay here with the way he's acting right now," the tallest among them informed the other members of their team. "The way he's acting right now, if he and Wendy were to come to blows...they'd attempt to kill each other."

The words ringing off the trees as it seemed to echo throughout the forest.

"Kill? That's ridiculous," The shirtless man denied as he looked at Gajeel. "Natsu and Wendy would never try and hurt each other, less alone try and kill one another." Feeling the need to defend both his comrades.

A smirk came onto Gajeel's face from Gray's words, though he was far from amused. "And at any other time, you'd be absolutely right Gray," came his response. "However, this is mating season and, just like all animals during this time, a Dragon Slayer's behavior changes.

Just look at them." Referring to the hostile behavior both Wendy and Natsu were displaying to one another. It was completely out of character for them. This level of fury was normally reserved to Fairy Tail's enemies, and even then, one would have to push one of it's members well past their tolerance levels before they outright had a murderous expression on their face.

"We should do as Gajeel says," Pantherlily agreed after the group had fallen into silence once more, with only the sound of hisses and growls serving as a background noise. The black furred Exceed hovered next to Erza with his arms folded over his chest and eyes closed. "Though I admit I would like to fully understand just what mating season entails for Dragon Slayers, the concern for the safety of my friends outweighs my curiosity."

Gajeel couldn't help feeling like a proud parent from his Exceed's words.

"Then we shall take Natsu to the train station and await your arrival there," Erza said as she approached her pink haired guildmate, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come Natsu," the S-Class mage ordered tugging on his shoulder.

He didn't budge.

"Come on Flame Breath, you heard Erza," Gray said approaching his rival and giving Natsu a push to get him moving. "We're heading toward the train station."

Still, Natsu did not move in the direction that the other two were trying to make him walk. Instead, the pink haired man attempted to move in the opposite direction. Erza, having both had enough of his behavior and not willing to allow Natsu to attack Wendy (mating season be damned) finally solved their problem by punching the young man squarely in the gut.

Successfully rending Natsu out cold as Gray caught the unconscious fire wizard before his body hit the ground. Taking a moment to encase Natsu's body in ice...just in case. He noticed only then did the tallest among them relax.

"Hurry and get him away from here," the crimson eye male repeated as he waved them off. "I'll be along in a few moments." Motioning over his shoulder toward the mated pair. He had to deal with that before he left. Wendy wasn't exactly thrilled with his presence either.

Once the others had left, some a bit more reluctantly than others, the studded dragon slayer turned around to face Wendy. He held his hands up in a non-threatening manner, showing her that he meant no harm. "It's okay Wendy. I'm not going to take her from you," he assured the younger slayer slowly.

"Gajeel, what's going on?!" Lucy, who had been silent up until that point, questioned in a panic. He could see a mixture of emotions playing out within her eyes as she looked to him for answers.

Just what the hell was happening? She was Wendy's supposed mate? And apparently Dragon Slayers went into heat like animals? Then Natsu getting so angry and the way he and Wendy looked at one another? The Celestial mage found herself drowning from everything she had witnessed, her mind only now calming enough to where she could voice the only thought she managed to have from all of it.

He sighed allowing his shoulders to slump a bit. "Look, I know this is a lot to take in right now Lucy," he replied to her as he caught her eyes. "But, I don't have time to explain in detail what is going on right now.

Wendy isn't calming down, and I suspect it has much to do with that idiot Salamander's display," he told her, silently cursing Natsu for his reaction. "I have to leave soon and once I'm gone, you'll have to calm her down."

Calm her down? Lucy didn't see how she would be able to manage such a feat and voiced her thoughts on the subject. "And just how exactly am I supposed to calm her down?!" she demanded to know from the from her spot on the ground. She'd been afraid to move given Wendy's behavior topped off with the stare off between the fire and sky dragon slayers not long ago.

"You're her mate Lucy," Gajeel stated simply. "As long as it comes from you anything you manage to think of will help calm her down and soothe her dragon side." Beginning to step back toward the treeline as he finished his sentence.

Wait, he wasn't serious about leaving her here was he?

"When you've managed to calm her down, head to the train station," Gajeel continued to speak, even as his body began to disappear into the foliage. "We'll be there waiting for you." The sound of grass crunching under his feet being heard as he walked away.

The sound getting softer and softer until Lucy could no longer hear it.

That just left she and a pissed off Wendy who hadn't moved from her position for sometime. It was all too much for the heiress to handle. He'd called her Wendy's mate...just what did that mean for her? Was she now the wife of a child now? And why her for that matter?

It all proved to be too much too fast for Lucy and she found her eyes stinging. Before she could stop it a broken sob escaped her mouth, before she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. The action didn't help to stop the onslaught of emotions that slammed into her and before she knew it, she found herself sobbing into her hand as her vision became blurred from the heavy tears that poured from her honey brown eyes.

Her body shook trembling from the strength of her emotions.

In an instant, Wendy was by her side. The young girl straddling her waist before she began nuzzling the Celestial mage trying to comfort the blonde. While Wendy didn't sense any immediate danger something was bothering her mate and she listened to her instincts guiding her, telling her to soothe whatever bothered the older girl.

Soft rumbles akin to purring coming from her chest as she bumped her head against Lucy's trying to help. Her actions prompting Lucy to cry even harder; when that didn't seem to be working, Wendy sat back resting her weight between Lucy's pelvis and lower stomach. With a surprising show of strength (something Lucy didn't expect the blue haired teen possessed) the dragon slayer had pulled Lucy up and into a hug.

She tucked the Celestial mage's head beneath hers and began to rock back and forth, causing Lucy to do the same, as she rubbed the older girl's back all the while continuing to emit soft rumbles from her chest. Though she tried to resist the dragon slayer's attempt at comfort, as Wendy's actions persisted, Lucy found herself slowly calming down. She felt drained after her emotional breakdown and found the day's earlier events catching up with her as well as her eyes drooped.

Lucy couldn't believe it. How did she go from loving and caring for Wendy as a sister to being considered the young girl's mate? Why her?! Just how did things manage to get so complicated in a single afternoon? She hoped Gajeel was able to explain all of this and that perhaps there could be someway out of it-she wasn't prepared for a life change such as this.

Eventually, exhaustion caught up with her, as the gentle rocking motion and the rhythm of Wendy's soft purring managed to lull the older girl to sleep but not before she felt a brief echo of emotion that enjoyed being held in such an embrace by the sky dragon.


End file.
